Giving Tuesday Artist Spotlight: Joe Hedges
Published: December 3, 2019
Categories: Artists | Fall Campaign | Featured
We’re only halfway through Giving Tuesday, and you’ve already helped us raise over $1,500, funding one GAP Award! We are amazed at your generous support! Our goal before the day is out is to fund one more GAP! Remember, your donations of any amount will be generously stretched by the Artist Trust Board of Directors – if you have yet to donate, this is the perfect time to maximize your gift.
As you know, throughout the day, we’re highlighting three recent GAP recipients and how the GAP award has amplified their work. In our last email, we spoke with Troy Osaki, an emerging literary artist – read the full story here. Next up is Joe Hedges, a visual artist from Whitman County.
“The GAP grant comes at the perfect time for me. The work I’m doing now represents a new synthesis of many interests and processes I’ve experimented with over the last few years, from oil painting to new media to music. Being awarded a GAP grant now has not only helped me to afford materials for individual pieces I’m excited about making, but it’s provided me with a boost of confidence and clarity that I am making progress with the overall direction of my work and career.
There has never been a better time to support the arts! In a 21st-century attention economy bent on keeping us clicking, swiping and double-tapping, real engagement with the physical world through arts experiences is invaluable. Art engages all our senses, our emotions, and our intellect. Art is not only a commodity or entertainment–the benefits of art range from combating mental health issues to bringing diverse communities together. More than ever, we need art-making and arts patronage to engender compassion between different individuals and groups.”
Joe Hedges is an intermedia artist who has developed an expansive practice that weaves together oil painting, new media, installation, and sound. His projects often explore the effects of digital technologies on the human experience. Hedges has exhibited nationally and internationally and is currently living in Pullman, Washington. www.joehedges.com
